THERE has been a massive spike in cases of shoplifting in Maseru as the economic crisis begins to bite, thepost heard this week. A manager at one Chinese-owned grocery shop described the shoplifters as “highly experienced and innovative”. She said some shoplifters often come to the shop where they meticulously study the security arrangements before pouncing.
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“It’s a well-crafted operation,” she said.
Another manager at a clothing shop in Maseru said what is happening is terrible.
They come to the shop with the intention to steal, she said.
“They come straight to the shop after they disembark from the taxis,” she said.
She said her shop experienced a surge in incidents of theft after the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country.
She said factory workers used to buy every month-end and would send clothes home for their children but now with the closure of textile factories thousands of employees have lost their jobs.
“They now come to the shop to steal and not buy,” she said.
“It is terrible,” she said.
The shop, which does not have Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, has just one guard at the exit door who searches people as they go out.
They only realise this when they study closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage later in the day.
She said those who hide stolen goods in the hoods are men while women hide products between their thighs or between breasts where they are normally not searched.
Another strategy that they use is to wear big tights in which they hide the stolen goods.
These tights are specifically designed to hide stolen goods in such a manner that it would be difficult to see.
She said they sometimes hand over the suspects to the police to take them to court but they are usually released without being charged.
She said they normally trace any suspicious clients when they come into the shop to minimise cases of theft.
But that approach seems not to be working, she said.
While some shoplifters steal clothes, others are stealing basic foodstuffs as shown by recent court cases.
’Mamoratehi Lekhanya, 48, of Mapoteng, in Berea was fined M1 000 by the Maseru Magistrate’s Court for theft of food items at a local supermarket in Maseru in April.
The court found that on April 17 Lekhanya stole seven Escort Russians of 200 grams each and two bacons of 500 grams each.
She was caught by a security guard as she exited the shop.
For Khetsi Damane, 43, from Ha-Takalimane in Mazenod, her needs appeared to have been different after she was caught stealing six 250 ml bottles of Vaseline gel last April.
Damane was sentenced to a month in jail or pay a fine of M500 for theft when she appeared before the ’Masana Local Court.
A police report showed that a local grocery shop owner was helped by the village crime prevention to nab Damane after he stole the Vaseline bottles from the shop, based in Mazenod, just less than 20 kilometres south of Maseru.
A clothing shop manager broke down while speaking to thepost as he related how the shoplifters had become a menace in Maseru.
“They are putting our jobs on the line,” he said.
He said there is a benchmark for losses that they can make in the shop and when they exceed these, they have to personally account for the losses.
“We are forced to sign warning letters from our bosses,” he said.
He said sometimes the shoplifters wrap the tags in foil paper and seal the tags with tape.
“The stolen goods cannot be detected by the RFID tags because of the foil wrapped in plastic,” he said.
“Just a few stolen goods in the shop means a big loss for the shop,” he said.
Police spokesperson Inspector ’Mareabetsoe Mofoka said they deal with cases of shoplifting every time.
She, however, was not in a position to give recent statistics.
“Shoplifting is captured under common theft and is not an independent crime,” she said.
She said the majority of suspects were women.
Majara Molupe
